By Force
by yUmAdBro
Summary: Naruto is sent away from the village six months before his graduation from the academy with Jiraiya. The Third Hokage has a plan that will change the course of history and there is nothing anyone can do to stop it. FuuNaruHina possible harem.
1. Prologue

**__I figured it was about time I put up a story. Though I initially planned to do a Persona or Tales of The Abyss story first, I thought I'd give the ol' Naruto horse a shot. And for fair game, I'm going to give a warning about everything you can expect for this story beforehand so no one tries to kill me later for it.**

**There will be minor bashing. (Bashing and redemption. I love that concept) And it may be for EVERY character at some point. So just take it that the characters won't be perfect, especially Sakura and Ino.**

**I'm not sure if this will be a harem story or not, but there is a high chance of it. However, there will most certainly be ShikaTema and NejiTen.**

**There will be scenes of graphic everything. (Sexual, violence, language, etc.)**

**My main one, this story is not canonly correct. That's to say, I can and WILL change parts of the Naruto history to fit my own story. It's fanfiction, I have the right to do that you know. So I really don't want to hear "No you idiot, that didn't happen in the show! They were already dead," or "How can so and so happen if blah blah whatever." Seriously...don't do it.**

**Other than that, I guess I need to do this too. I don't own Naruto or any other appearing, copy-written characters who may cameo in this story. This story is for entertainment purposes only, and no profit is being made. There, the five billionth disclaimer to hit this site. If they don't know we aren't making money off of this by now, society has got some real problems...**

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><p><em><strong>Prologue: Diverging From History<strong>_

As many misconceptions that surrounded Hiruzen Sarutobi, there was one that would forever be shattered from that day forth. Many people believed, and some still do, that the Council ran the village in Sarutobi's aging bout of weakness. To some extent, this was true. With the stress of becoming Hokage again after the untimely death of the Yondaime Hokage, Minato Namikaze, Sarutobi admittedly needed some assistance. At the time, he thought that his choice would be a good idea, handing over a small percentage of his power so that the Council and his best friends, Homura and Koharu could help effectively run Konoha and keep it safe at the same time.

He was dead wrong.

Not even several months into his second term as Hokage did the Council, mainly the civilian side, start trying to change things to better fit their needs. Most of these things had to do with a certain blonde haired child who is the main focus of this tale, but those that didn't were meant to slowly siphon more power away from the aging man. They started by taking away his dealings in the markets, stating that since there were mainly civilian run shops, the civilian side of the council could deal with it accordingly. Sarutobi saw no problem with that. It escalated when the civilian council then added weapon, scroll, and ninja supplement shops to the list, giving them complete control over the secondary force of income to the village.

This was overlooked by the fact that even though some of these shops WERE owned by shinobi, the general income went more towards the civilians. Thus, the entire shopping district of Konoha left Sarutobi's hands.

Only several months later did the council kick back up again. Koharu and Homura, alongside the old War Hawk Danzou, began to coerce the shinobi side of the council into giving them more control over Konoha's global trade network. The trade networks from Suna, Taki, and even Kumogakure with their almost non-existent relationship to Konoha would be regulated by those three alone. At this point, Sarutobi was barely getting used to the work that he was undergoing, especially with all the threats they were getting once the rest of the hidden villages learned of their beloved Fouth's death. He felt it a godsend for the three to offer such a thing and they were given more power without a second thought.

Now over the next few years, things had started to calm down. No other villages carried through on their attacks, except for an attempt from Kumogakure to kidnap the heir to one of the villages strongest clans, being the Hyuga. It was thwarted and the problems that followed were dealt with by Hiashi Hyuga, the current clan head. The only other problem that Sarutobi had to deal with was that of the way the villagers were treating a 6 year old Naruto Uzumaki. He wished he could do more for the boy than just give him a shoulder to cry on every now and then but as Hokage of an entire village, their just wasn't time. The boy was staying in an orphanage, and Sarutobi knew they couldn't have been doing the child right for the fact that Naruto was constantly being sent to the hospital for 'accidents' that always tended to be healed by the time he got there. He would have done something about that, but the civilians had always owned the orphanage of the village and Naruto was still a civilian himself. While he loved the boy like a grandson, the council always tied his hands, screaming bloody murder if he showed Naruto any type of compassion over the rest of the children his age.

It was around this time that Orochimaru deserted the village. That heaped on a brand new pile of problems for the Third Hokage and the stress returned full force. This gave an opening that the council on both sides needed to make grabs for more power.

The biggest argument that Sarutobi tried his hardest to fight was that of Naruto entering the academy in two years time. The desertion of Orochimaru made people scared, and they began to wonder if Naruto would follow in the Snake Sannin's footsteps. There was no real just cause for such accusations, primarily being stated that Naruto had the Kyubi inside him, so it could influence him to do the same. The civilian wanted him either killed, exiled, or imprisoned for life. The elders, namely Danzou, wanted the boy to be groomed into the perfect tool, loyal to Konoha through and through with no emotions to hinder his judgment.

For the first time, Sarutobi put his foot down.

There was no discussion. The Hokage completely refused to let the council have their way with Naruto and made it clear with the massive waves of killing intent he flooded the room with. The council was reminded to why the man was Hokage in the first place and how he had acquired the title 'God of Shinobi'. The council learned that day that Naruto was out of reach to them legally. But that was when things only got worse for the boy. A few weeks later he was kicked out of his orphanage, the head saying that he was too dangerous and unstable to be around the other children. With the orphanage in civilian hands, Sarutobi didn't, not couldn't, force them to take him back in. Instead, he spent an entire day looking for someplace, anyplace, to house the boy. It ended with Naruto being placed in a rundown apartment building near the edge of town. The landlord was one of very few people who didn't mess with Naruto, though they didn't care about him. So for the time being, the Hokage thought the boy would be safe.

Another council meeting brought forth a new attempt, one that if the Hokage had been in the right mind, would have never allowed to happen. The civilian council somehow persuaded the Hokage and the Shinobi council to hand over the rights to the Shinobi Academy. Using the argument that most of the children attending the academy were from the civilian side of town, they wanted say in what was being taught and how it was being done. The Shinobi protested this greatly, saying that the academy was meant to train ninja, and could only be run by ninja. But with Homura and Koharu backing up the civilian council, saying that while the children were IN the academy, they were still civilian, Sarutobi had no choice but to grant the civilian council their greatest source of power, especially against Naruto himself.

Two years passed with the shift in power being quite evident to everyone around. Sarutobi felt that he was no more than a military general than the leader of the entire force itself. If it wasn't for his hidden intelligence network being done by Jiraiya, he would have sworn that he had absolutely no power as Hokage.

These thoughts were pushed to the back of his mind as he gave his speech to the incoming academy students and was happy to see that Naruto was amongst them. He had given the boy a choice of becoming a shinobi or remaining a civilian. The reason being that Homura, Koharu, and Danzou would once again start trying to turn the boy into a weapon once he became a ninja, regardless of how many times Sarutobi would shoot them down. He just didn't want to go through the headache, and didn't want Naruto to go through it either. The boy vehemently shook his head, shouting that he wanted to be Hokage one day, so he had to become a ninja first. This made the Third sad, knowing the true horrors of being Hokage. But he wouldn't spoil the child's outlook, especially if it was one of the only happy dreams in his life.

Sarutobi stayed and overlooked the classes, mainly the one being taught by an Iruka Umino and Mizuki Touji. During one of the breaks, he watched Naruto's interactions with the other students. At first the boy sat alone, not talking to anyone at all. But soon enough, several people went over to the boy. Sarutobi recognized each one by their resemblance to their parents.

One was a Nara who seemed just as lazy as his father as he merely flopped down onto his back next to Naruto. He said something that made Naruto look nervous before giving the blonde a smile that was returned sheepishly. The next was an Akimichi if the slightly bigger figure said anything. He sat down next to the Nara and began to chat with Naruto happily. The third was an Inuzuka and he brashly sat to Naruto's side and put an arm around his shoulder. Naruto looked uncomfortable for a moment before it turned into laughter.

"Naruto!"

A voice called from a bit across the yard. Sarutobi looked over to see Sasuke Uchiha running over to the group. Naruto's eyes lit up and he stood as Sasuke came over. The two rose their hands and hooked their pinky's together.

"Sasuke!"

The blonde shouted back. The Third had no clue how the two knew each other, but apparently they knew each other very well. He hadn't seen Naruto greet anyone like that, and Sasuke hadn't been out enough to meet many people. He had known that the two's mothers were friends, but Naruto's parents were killed the day he was born. Sasuke was born several months later, so they shouldn't have met each other. He would've chalked it up to Naruto and Sasuke meeting while Sasuke was out with his parents shopping, or with his big brother Itachi, but they seemed far closer than having met just a few times.

The truth was that Itachi himself had brought Naruto into the Uchiha compound on many occasions when he found out the way the villagers were treating Naruto. While there, Naruto became close to both Itachi and Sasuke, and even some of the other Uchiha. Sasuke's mother was like a mother to Naruto. They became brothers fast and Naruto filled that hole in Sasuke's heart that Itachi left when on missions, and that Sasuke's father had created by never being as supportive as he was with Itachi.

Looking to the gazes of others, Sarutobi saw the Hyuga heiress that had almost gotten kidnapped two years prior. Her gaze was lingering on the group with a blush on her face. Her gaze was directed solely at Naruto. With a content smile, Sarutobi left the academy, hoping that today would be a repeating factor in Naruto's life. The boy needed as much happiness as he could get.

Five months later was the Uchiha Massacre.

From that point on, Sarutobi's life was a blur. The paper work, the threats of war, assassinations, clan problems, council problems and the way his hands were tied in most cases kept Sarutobi from knowing how Naruto and Sasuke's lives had drifted apart, and from knowing just how much the civilians had grown to despise the former. Sarutobi hadn't seen much of Naruto in two years, outside of the few pranks that he pulled and would get in trouble with.

Another two years later, six months before Naruto's class was scheduled to take their final examinations, Sarutobi's life began to slow down once again. For the first time in four years, he decided to go to the blonde's apartment to check up on him. He would take him out for ramen and let him eat as much as he wanted to make up for it. Never would the old man have thought he'd find what he did. Upon knocking on the door to the apartment, he found it open already. With a cautious step, Sarutobi slowly entered the apartment

The apartment was ransacked. Furniture was turned over and some shredded. Clothes were tattered and cast all over the floor. Food was smeared across the walls. In general, the apartment looked as if an explosive tag had detonated right in the middle of the room.

"Naruto? Naruto where are you?"

Sarutobi's voice echoed off of each wall, showing just how quiet the ruined place was. A sniffle was heard in the direction of Naruto's bedroom. Shunshining into the room in case an intruder was still there, Sarutobi looked around to see the room in the same state as the rest of the apartment. He found Naruto sitting in his closet with nothing but his black shorts on, crying and shaking. The old Hokage was instantly by his side.

"Naruto, what happened? Are you alright? Who did this to you?"

Naruto looked up at the old man with red slitted eyes. For a moment, Sarutobi pondered if the Naruto in front of him was the real one or not. But after looking deeper into his eyes, he knew he could be no one else. His chakra wasn't tainted with that of the Kyubi's so why were his eyes red?

"I...I did this, jiji." Naruto spoke silently. "I destroyed everything...because I'm a monster, just like the villagers say..."

"Naruto, what are you talking about?"

"I know...I know that the Kyubi is inside of me. He wants to get out...to kill for me. To kill everyone that hurts me..." Naruto began to shiver again. "The nightmares won't stop...they won't stop jiji...make them stop!"

The Hokage pulled Naruto close, taking one piece of info at a time. His main concern was how Naruto found out about the Kyubi. None of the ANBU had reported a civilian or comrade breaking the law, and he was sure Naruto wouldn't have been able to find out on his own. Then the second piece of info hit him. Naruto had been in contact with the fox. How far the fox had corrupted Naruto, or even how far Naruto had fallen on his own was now in question. From the looks of things, Naruto didn't take the information too well, as he thought would happen if the secret was revealed to him at an early age. However, he also took it better than his worse case scenario, which would've been to completely turn his back on the village and go on a rampage. Not to say that it wasn't an option at this point, but as for then, it didn't seem like it would happen.

Regardless of how much Sarutobi had hoped the moment would never, EVER, come, he had already made a backup plan for such an event, albeit, with a much happier ending than ending the life of the child he thought the world of.

The Hokage took Naruto to his own residence and let him stay the night. The next day, he was kept from the academy so that Inoichi could perform a mind walk and see just how bad Naruto's psyche was holding up. Needless to say, the way Naruto learned of the Kyubi coupled with the nightmares he had been having for the past few weeks proved too much for his mind. He was on the verge of going legally insane. It was bad enough Sasuke's personality was spiraling in that direction, he most definitely did not need Naruto going insane too. Because unlike Sasuke, Naruto wouldn't have a village to back him up or help him through it.

After getting the confirmation that Naruto didn't blame him or the village, Sarutobi put his plan in motion, all behind the back of the council and the village itself. No more than three days later did Jiraiya arrive back in the village under the cover of the night. After a brief moment of catching up, Jiraiya informed Sarutobi that he had been in Takigakure and needed to go back there immediately after the meeting. The village had mutinied against their leader, slaying the man who had been trying to protect that villages jinchuriki, a young girl the same age as Naruto named Fuu. He had left the girl in the care of several of his toad summons but was afraid to be away from them for too long.

When asked why he hadn't just brought the girl along, his answer was that the entire area within 150 mile radius had a bounty on the girl. She couldn't be moved unless Konoha planned on starting a war with that entire area. Jiraiya, with all of his faults, was not a sannin for no reason. He was sure he could handle himself against countless enemies, but to do so while protecting the young girl from other people as well as herself would be short of suicide.

Due to the situation, the Third assigned two ANBU to accompany Jiraiya just in case, one from the Shadow-Ops division, code named Yamato, and the other who was no longer in the village. He informed Jiraiya that the second ANBU would meet him at the beta outpost, several miles east of Konoha. After the long business discussion, Sarutobi presented the true reason he had called Jiraiya back to the village.

"Three months? Are you sure that's not too much time?" Jiraiya asked with a pensive expression. Yamato stood in the shadows, observing silently. The Hokage sighed and blew smoke from his pipe.

"I understand your problems Jiraiya, but I can think of no one who could better protect the boy. You know he is Minato's son, and his legendary determination can just as well be put into destroying this village than protecting it. As farfetched as it seemed then, thinking that Naruto could follow in the footsteps of Orochimaru is a very intimidating yet plausible idea."

"I'd never let Minato's memory be tarnished like that, you know that!"

"Exactly! So with that in mind, think of another choice that we may have."

Jiraiya paused to actually give it some thought, but after a while knew that he would find nothing. That was alright though. Having two out of three of the strongest jinchuriki training under him would be just the focus he needed to start forgetting about her again...

"You're thinking of Tsunade?" The Third's wise voice spoke with a bit of mirth. Jiraiya smiled and shook his head.

"When am I ever thinking of anything else?"

The Hokage sweat dropped as his gaze shifted to his desk drawer, where a familiar orange book was nestled, but decided against speaking out on it. Instead he dismissed Jiraiya to his thoughts, as well as to get Naruto. He felt sorry for Naruto. He was leaving his home, if you could call it that, without being able to say goodbye to those who cared about him, even if it was only for 3 months.

Once Jiraiya, Yamato, and Naruto were safely on their way to the Beta Outpost, Sarutobi returned to his office. He looked towards Hokage mountain, seeing it illuminated by small torches. The faces of the First and Second Hokage sent a chill down his spine.

"I have not been living up to your expectations Hashirama-sensei, Senju-sensei. I will rectify this mistake, I promise."

That night, Hiruzen Sarutobi sat awake for hours on end. He was writing a brand new law. A law that would not be passed until the perfect time. But in light of the situation that forced his hand, it would be much sooner than anyone could anticipate. His true act as Hokage, the Hokage who runs an entire village in respect, love, and discipline. This one act of true leadership would be the changing tide of the Leaf Village's future. And there wouldn't be a damn thing the council could do about it.

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><p>She was known for being kind. She was known for being caring. To her few friends, these traits were cute, though a bit annoying. To her family, these traits were signs of weakness, of failure, and of mediocrity in a perfection driven society.<p>

Hinata Hyuga was what the Hyuga clan elders called the 'Bad Sheep' of the family. Where the main branch was uppity, Hinata was humble. Where they were cruel, she was nurturing. Where they perfected the art of killing, she perfected the art of healing. In general, she was the complete opposite of what they wanted her to be. They called her imperfect.

"She is your daughter, Hiashi-sama, yet you just can't seem to realize your own rule over her!" One of the elders shouted in the main chamber. Hiashi Hyuga, the clan head, sat in front of the three Hyuga elders. It was the third time that week that they had been in this position, and Hiashi always wondered why he needed the loud wind bags in the first place. If it weren't for tradition, he would have had all three of them admitted into Konoha's home for the elderly.

"I know full well my rule over not just my daughter, but this clan as well. Hinata may be softer than most Hyuga, but she is not so far gone as to become a weak leader."

"She is already weak willed! How much farther can she fall?" Another elder called.

Hiashi glared at the man. It was what Hiashi had told Hinata no more than an hour ago. He had called her weak willed, though he regretted it right away. But being who he was, he didn't let it show. As much as he hated to admit it, he was almost just like this old fool.

"She is still dealing with the death of her mother and the kidnap attempt-"

"Both of those were years ago, Hiashi. How much longer does she need to wallow in self pity?"

The statement would hit Hiashi like a ton of bricks. Just what did they expect? For the girl to up and get over her mothers death just like that? To not be a bit traumatized by being kidnapped and almost defiled? That was it. The old bastards had gone senile.

The entire time, Hiashi avoided saying what was on his mind as well. Hinata was his daughter, and even though he didn't show it as much as he used to, he loved her with all his heart. So to hear them talking about her like that was really pissing him off. It was getting harder to control his anger the more and more they began to speak about her flaws.

"That damnable stutter of hers as well! It worsens whenever she is around that _**thing**_."

Hiashi's eyes snapped open at the elders words. "What did you just say?"

"...You're daughter. She has obviously become smitten with that Uzumaki boy."

Hiashi's heart skipped a beat. He knew all about Naruto, and about his heritage. Being one of the few people who didn't shun the boy, he was actually interested in what his daughters relationship was with him.

"Why have I not been informed of this?" Hiashi spoke, pretending as if the knowledge upset him. It was easy for a Hyuga to pretend to be angry.

"Well...we were afraid of what you might do to Hinata. Any more emotional stress could hinder her growth." The last elder spoke, for the first time since the meeting had begun. It surprised Hiashi. It seemed as if only two of the elders were completely against Hinata's appointment as clan head, though he would look into the sudden change later.

"Rubbish! It is this 'crush' that she has for the Uzumaki that is making her so weak! She has no time to run after filth like that while we are trying to craft the perfect clan head!'

Very bad idea.

The killing intent that filled the room would have made any ordinary civilian go into cardiac arrest. Three heads turned with sharp intakes of air to see the visage of a truly angry Hiashi Hyuga. The clan head was on his feet, his fiery gaze set on the elder who had just spoken.

"My daughter is not a tool to be 'crafted'! She is far from weak if her progression these past few days is anything to go by, and she WILL be the perfect clan head, WITHOUT you interfering. I will not sit by and allow you to talk about my daughter as if she were some puppet to act as figure head for this clan. If I so much as hear you utter another insult about her, I will have you branded with the caged bird seal so fast you wouldn't know you were ever part of the main branch!"

After the outburst, the two elders who were against Hinata open and closed their mouths like fish out of water. The third merely smiled slightly, having inadvertently succeeded in doing what he had planned since the death of Hiashi's wife, which was getting the man to come clean about his feelings for Hinata. From that day on, he knew they would be closer. Why? Because he had told Hinata to wait right outside the door for the conversation and had purposefully left the silence seals undone. Returning to the stone faced Hyuga 'bastard' that he had made everyone believe he was, he stood abruptly.

"Very well then. If that is all, please excuse us Hiashi-sama." He bowed rudely before turning and heading towards the door. Being the first out, he smiled at Hinata and walked with her to her room before the others could see them.

"Thank you, Shuichi-sama." Hinata whispered with tears in her eyes.

"Anything for you, tenshi. Now go to sleep and be prepared for the work out of your life tomorrow." He said before leaving the room.

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><p>Iruka Umino had been teaching at the Academy for 4 years now. It was a position he had wanted since he had become a genin. His Jonin sensei, being the fourth Hokage for all of one week, had inspired him. He loved children, and after training under Ibiki for the remainder of his genin years, he knew that no other position would suit him better than academy teacher.<p>

Many people said this was a waste of his true skills. The very few people who knew Iruka knew his real strength, yet would never diverge it. And that's just how he liked it. Nice and simple.

But the news he had received from the Hokage several days ago made him want to say screw the nice and simple life and take a kunai to the entire civilian council, regardless of the consequences.

It had first come as a shock, but was instantly replaced by a rage that the Third had not seen in any one person since the second Shinobi war. Iruka was absolutely livid upon hearing that the council had the audacity to call for Naruto's death. It took the Third himself as well as several ANBU to hold the man down from marching through Konoha and dispatching of each and every council member.

So now Iruka was on his way to his class for the fourth day since Naruto had been away from the village. For the first two days, the class just believed the boy to be absent. During the third day, there were a few rumors going around the academy about the boy being killed or kidnapped, happily shared by some of the other teachers. Finally on this fourth day, Naruto had been temporarily removed from the roster all together. With a heavy sigh, he prepared himself for the questions he knew he would receive from the few that had been close to Naruto.

"Wait, sensei! You didn't call Naruto's name!" Hinata Hyuga spoke up loudly from the back of the classroom, surprising him once he had finished taking attendance for the day. The usually quiet girl didn't blush or hide her face once the class had turned their attention to her. Her eyes remained locked into Iruka's, almost as if pleading for an answer of where the boy was. She knew there was something going on.

"Naruto...won't be rejoining us for some time." Was all Iruka was willing to say.

"What happened to him? Where is he?" Sasuke called with his normal monotone. Though he and Naruto had drifted apart after the massacre of his family, Sasuke had always thanked Kami Naruto wasn't there. He had one family member left in Naruto. But he distanced himself from him as well, not knowing if Itachi was still watching and waiting to fix his mistake of leaving one piece of happiness in his life. He was worried about Naruto, and hearing that he wasn't coming back to the academy instantly made him think Itachi had done something.

"Don't worry, he's fine. Naruto is going through some tough times right now and just needs to be alone."

"Cha, yeah right! What type of problems could that baka be having that would make him miss school? I bet he just got expelled for being an idiot!" Sakura yelled out.

"Yeah! It's not like his entire family was killed or something since he doesn't have any! Sasuke-kun is the one that needed time!" Ino added right after. The waves of killing intent that rose from almost every other shinobi in the room, especially Hinata, Sasuke and Shikamaru slammed into both young kunoichi with a force begetting a ballistic missile. Both girls shrunk in their seats next to Sasuke and said nothing for the remainder of the day.

"Sensei, what has happened to Naruto?" Shino Aburame asked, his emotions unreadable behind his shades and trench coat.

"I'm sorry Shino, but I can't diverge that information. Just trust me, you all will see Naruto again." His eyes went into everyone of Naruto's friends, letting them know that everything would be alright.

From that day on, Iruka saw the changes. Almost every day afterward, he saw the improvements in each of the children, even those who weren't friends with Naruto. It was as if his absence made the children want to be better. Overhearing a conversation between Hinata and Ino, he realized that his entire class just wanted to be stronger for his return. Iruka didn't know why Naruto meant that much to them, but the fact that he did made him proud. They wanted to be stronger for Naruto...

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><p>The moment Naruto's foot set outside the village hidden in leaf, he had no clue what to think. He had no time to say goodbye to any of his friends, not that it would matter if they knew he was a demon anyway. He couldn't pack any ramen or any of his normal clothes for that matter and he was being sent away with two people he had never met in his life. When he asked the Third Hokage why, he was only told that it was in his best interest.<p>

He didn't care though. As long as the village was being saved from him being there, he had achieved his goal of protecting people. That's all he wanted. He honestly believed that was the reason Sarutobi was sending him away. Because he was a threat to Konoha. Jiraiya had not introduced himself yet, and the man with the weird eyes had not spoken a word since they had met in the Hokage's office. He didn't even know their names. They traveled in silence, Naruto not looking at either one of them.

Jiraiya looked down at the young boy with sad eyes. He knew this must have been hard on him, and he felt bad for not talking with him right now. But he would allow Naruto to use this time to reflect on his own emotions. He knew Yamato was doing the same. They hadn't introduced themselves to the boy because they wanted him to become familiar with them as strangers before trying to put themselves into his life. Part of an unorthodox lesson they wanted to show the boy.

Once they reached the Beta Outpost, a little before sundown, Yamato surprised Naruto by performing a small wood technique and creating a sturdy tent suitable for all three of the shinobi.

"How did you do that?" Naruto asked, speaking for the first time since they had been together.

"What do you mean, Naruto?" Yamato asked, wondering if the boy new about wood techniques.

"You just used a mokuton jutsu! Only the First Hokage, Hashirama-sama knew how to do that!" Naruto said in awe and fear. His fear spurred from wondering who was this person that could use moves specific to the first hokage while his awe was for the same reason.

"Good observation, Naruto. How do you know the first is the only person able to use mokuton?" Jiraiya asked. He knew that it was a well known fact taught in the academy, but if his sources were correct, then Naruto was hospitalized during each and everyone of the tellings of the hokage accounts, except for the fourth, just so he could hear how 'he' being the 'kyubi' was defeated.

"Aunt Mikoto taught me and Sasuke about the Hokages..." Naruto said sadly.

"Mikoto? Mikoto Uchiha?" Yamato asked curiously. 'That's Sasuke Uchiha's mother right?' He wondered.

"Oh really! What else did she teach you?" Jiraiya asked with a smirk. It wasn't one of his lecherous ones. He was a bit happy that Naruto was opening up to them. He noted that he seemed to have an interest in not learning, but simply knowing about jutsu, just like his father.

However, before Naruto could answer, a powerful presence washed over them. Jiraiya didn't move, knowing exactly who it was, while Yamato stiffened a bit and Naruto visibly shook on spot.

"You're early." Jiraiya called. To his voice, a single shinobi wearing a raven's mask and full black shroud dropped down from the trees in front of them. "Looks like we won't need camp after all. Let's get moving."

Naruto looked at the masked man as he looked right back at Naruto. Yamato said nothing, having figured out who the person was right away. Naruto didn't know why, but for some reason this person felt familiar and distant at the same time. Something about him scared Naruto while another part of him felt as safe as possible around him. "Who-"

"We are being left behind." The person spoke in a smooth, calm monotone, indicating both Jiraiya and Yamato walking further ahead. Naruto paused for a moment, wondering where he had heard that voice from before. After a moment he simply put it off and ran to catch up with the others.

The masked man looked at the blonde jinchuriki with a sigh. 'He didn't mention he would be part of this. Sarutobi-sama, what are you planning?' Slowly moving to follow after the others, the man chuckled to himself. "This is going to be a long three months."


	2. Welcome Home Naruto Prt1

Chapter 1: Welcome Home Naruto Part 1

Five months later, Jiraiya had not returned to the village. Though he had sent word several times about their training not being complete, the Hokage could not help but feel anxious. Even in his old age and wisdom, he couldn't decipher exactly what Jiraiya was planning by keeping the boy away for two more months. Plus, he wanted Naruto to graduate from the academy. Now that he was two months late, the Hokage could say almost nothing to the civilian council that would let him through.

He hoped Jiraiya had a damn good plan, because things were going to go even further into hell than they already had. For the past few months, every council meeting had been started with shouts as to the whereabouts of the jinchuriki. While only Sarutobi and the clan heads knew of the truth, Koharu, Homura, and Danzou had gotten far too suspicious. They knew the boy wasn't dead, and that the Hokage was once again showing favoritism by hiding him from them. But all three knew not to piss the Hokage off when it came to that child, which is exactly why they didn't say anything publicly. Though whenever they got the chance to talk with him in his office, they always attempted to get even just a sliver of information.

With his firm resolve, the Hokage easily shot down every attempt. No, the real problem lied with Naruto's old classmates. The entire classes marks had risen exemplary to the point where the children were asking for harder, more hands on training. This would've been no problem, especially since they had proven that they deserved more advanced training if it weren't for the fact that the Ninja Academy was in civilian hands. Once again, Sarutobi wondered what he was thinking when he decided to give the civilians control over the academy.

"It's not fair, Hokage-sama!" Some of the students shouted out.

"We're ready for real training! All we've been doing is mock sparring and target practice. With nothing but book work, we're not going to be able to protect ourselves in a real life situation!" Ino Yamanaka shouted out from her seat in the academy. Out of all the students, Ino seemed to have changed the most notably. She no longer hung off of Sasuke wherever he went, finding more interest in actually training, much to the Uchiha's relief. At some times he found himself asking to help her train and even more surprising was turned down on several occasions. However, Sakura remained latched to him, training more with Ino but never letting go of her fangirlism.

"I understand that Ino, but if the council doesn't approve of more advanced training, there is nothing I can do." The Third responded for what felt like the thousandth time over the last few months.

It made him even more angry each and every time. More advanced training is exactly what his shinobi needed, and maybe the genin failure rate wouldn't be so high when they actually went to meet with their jonin senseis. The argument that the civilian council was using was that they didn't want their children to be hurt while learning or traumatized by something that they could see. While Sarutobi had many ways of smashing those lines of thinking into bits, he wasn't thinking straight lately.

"Hokage-sama, if I may. You are Hokage, so why can't you overrule the civilian council?" Shino Aburame asked. The Aburame boy had been opening up a bit more to his classmates, becoming close friends to Hinata Hyuga, Kiba Inuzuka, Choiji Akimichi, and Shikamaru Nara. While Ino had come to him on several occasions for training as well, they were purely on a mutual base since Ino still found it creepy that he fought with bugs.

Iruka shook his head at Shino. "Sorry, Shino, but it doesn't work like that. The Hokage wants to be fair to all of his charges, shinobi and civilian alike."

The Hokage flinched. Yes, that's where his weakness lied. He was being fair. Nothing about his title and authority was meant to be fair. Konohagakure was the strongest village out there, but was that gained by having a fair leader or a strong leader? These were questions that rung through his head on a daily basis, every time he needed to make a major decision, and especially right now.

"How is sending us all to our deaths being fair?" Sasuke spoke up from beside Ino. "We're supposed to be training to be shinobi, not twiddling our thumbs because some old fool can't control his village."

"Sasuke! How dare you speak-" Iruka started but was cut off as the Hokage rose his hand. The room began to quiet when the Hokage took a step forward.

"He is right." Sarutobi said remorsefully, making Iruka's eyes widen. The other teachers observing looked horrified that the Hokage had just allowed an insult by someone that wasn't even a genin yet. "Sasuke, you are right. I am an old fool who can't control this village, I admit that. My mistakes time back to over a decade ago, and there is nothing I can do to rectify them."

A glint appeared in Sarutobi's eyes as he said that. Iruka noticed and frowned. Something bad was going on here.

"I wish I were in my prime, or better yet, I wish the Yondaime were here. Even if only for the selfish reason of handing over such a tedious title as Hokage. But as an old fool, I cannot allow my village to be torn asunder from the inside. That would be the biggest mistake that one as old as me could have no hope of fixing."

Sasuke looked away, taking the statement for face value as did everyone else. Sasuke knew that he shouldn't have said what he did, but anger made him speak before thinking. He knew that there was no way he could understand what the Hokage went through by running an entire village. But Iruka himself had a glare leveled at the Hokage that could be interpreted as a death glare. Iruka was reading into everything that Hokage was revealing and not liking what it implied.

'It has something to do with Naruto...but what?' The young teacher wondered.

Sarutobi was a sly man, when need be. Of course, with very few things left to govern, he needed to take utmost care of the little remaining power he had left. It would only be a matter of time before everything fell into place.

Arriving back at his tower after the classes had been dismissed, he wasn't surprised that Iruka had shown up a mere hour later. Iruka had always been one of his wild cards. The man was spontaneous and strong willed, just like Naruto. He could surprise you in an instant and do it all again with renewed vigor the next second. It was probably one of the reasons he had taken a liking to Naruto only after a year of teaching him. Sarutobi was happy about this, and knew that Naruto would get good training under Iruka.

"Hokage-sama, I want to know what you are planning." Iruka more demanded than asked. He was showing the authority he was known for in many other groups, an authority that would make him the greatest and most feared academy teacher should he let it show during his classes.

"I understand you are worried about Naruto, Iruka-san, however I cannot reveal my hand to even my most trusted shinobi. Please just understand that the changes that will come are for the best."

Iruka wasn't stupid. He knew that Sarutobi was giving him a hint without revealing his plan to the hidden ears all around. It did upset him that the Hokage was being cryptic to this degree, and even more that he said that their would be changes. But that was to be expected honestly, something to be taken in stride with the untimely disappearance of Naruto. Iruka sighed and put a hand on his forehead.

"I'm not just worried about Naruto. I'm worried about the whole village. Whatever happens, I want your word that you are thinking of the masses over a single person."

For the fourth time in Hiruzen Sarutobi's long life, he had been taken off guard by a person he thought he knew. The first being Orochimaru's betrayal, the second Jiraiya's confession of love for Tsunade, and the third being Fugaku Uchiha's attempt at a coup, this last one had to be the most shocking of them all. To all ears present, it was as if Iruka was pulling the Hokage into his own execution. If the Hokage had made a decision that put his village in danger, then he had betrayed not just his village, but his entire country. But The Third Hokage new the meaning behind Iruka's statement.

"Trust me Iruka, I care for everyone who deserves it. You have my word."

Iruka's face took on a dark look that would put Orochimaru to shame. He now knew exactly what to expect. When Naruto returned to the village, all hell would surely break loose. And he would be one of the few who got to kick back and enjoy the fireworks.

* * *

><p>Not long after Iruka left his office did the five presences make themselves known by appearing right in front of the Hokage's desk. Sarutobi smiled to himself as he could still feel the suppressed chakra signatures of the two shortest masked figures. Four of the figures wore raven mask, a spiral that resembled the Uzumaki symbol emblazoned on each and every one of them. The fifth figure just wore a normal black raven mask. The figures all wore black cloaks and the tallest one had his hood down, revealing long white hair.<p>

"We have returned, Hokage-sama." The second shortest figure spoke, a male with a slightly deep voice.

The Hokage stood from his chair slowly, eying each of the figures with an eye of assessment. "You may remove your mask."

All five present removed their mask and made them vanish as if into thin air. If Sarutobi hadn't seen the small glow which indicated a seal on the palm of each of their hands, he would have sworn that they had developed a new technique. With the masks off, The Third got his first look at the group for what felt like years.

The shortest, being a caramel colored girl with green hair and ruby orange eyes smiled sweetly at him, her shoulder length hair combed neatly. "Hello Hokage-sama. I'm Fuu Uzumaki, its a pleasure to meet you."

"Uzumaki?" Sarutobi rose an eyebrow. Fuu nodded.

"I'm Naruto-kun's future wife."

At this the Third paused and almost had a nosebleed. Shaking his head to clear his thoughts he turned to the next person, being the aforementioned blonde. "It's good to see you again jiji." Naruto spoke with a slow drawl now, almost as if he were a tired old man like Sarutobi himself. His eyes looked tired as well, and he was most definitely taller. Where he was only 4'6 before he left the village, now he was already 5'2, like he had been away from the village for years. His hair was longer, reaching the top of his back and was combed in the back. The front of his hair was still spiked up but looked more neat than it did at first. He honestly looked several years older than thirteen, the only deciding factor being his height.

"As well it is good to see you in good health Naruto. But may I ask, what happened to you?"

Naruto chuckled sagely. "Long story, jiji, one that I will tell you another day. Or maybe ero-sennin has time in his report."

The Hokage was going to question who ero-sennin was but when he heard Jiraiya sigh, he couldn't help but hold back a chuckle. "I see Naruto has found out about your hobby!"

"Yeah yeah!" Jiraiya waved him off. "The gaki's as chivalrous as his father was."

Once more, The Hokage had a questioning look on his face. Jiraiya nodded.

"He knows already. About everything."

"Jiraiya, do you know how dangerous that is-"

"It's alright jiji!" Naruto interrupted, a childish gleam in his eye. "I understand that there are people who would love to kill me just because of whom my father was, but I'm prepared for that. As a shinobi, my life is already in danger and if this gets out, then the people I care about will be in danger too. So I will keep this information to myself until you tell me its okay to reveal it."

Sarutobi was floored. Just how much had Naruto changed in just 5 short months? He was already impressed and he hadn't even seen what Naruto could do! Were those three really such good teachers? Sarutobi glanced at the three would be sensei's of the two younger nin.

Jiraiya of the Sannin, Yamato of the Shadow Ops force, and Itachi Uchiha...

It was then that the Hokage realized that Itachi Uchiha was unmasked and in his office. He sighed and folded his hands under his chin.

"Anbu, Itachi Uchiha is a guest and his presence here shall be hidden until I say so under penalty of death."

The three hidden ANBU that lined the room revealed themselves only to mumble a quick 'hai' before vanishing back into the shadows. The tense air that had risen because of Itachi's appearance faded. The ANBU were still uneasy and wary, none knowing the truth behind the Uchiha massacre but none spoke against the Hokage anyway.

"Thank you Hokage-sama." Itachi spoke.

"Not at all. I treat all of my loyal shinobi with the respect that they deserve."

With the pleasantries out the way, the Hokage cleared his throat, making all of the shinobi serious. They had much to discuss and much to plan for, and as much as he would have loved to just enjoy the present shinobi's company, the rapidly building problems of the village needed to be quelled as fast as possible.

"I want a full assessment of Naruto and Fuu's current skill level as well as an explanation on what you plan to do with Fuu, Jiraiya."

Jiraiya nodded in understanding. "Fuu's affinities are fire and wind. She has extremely large chakra coils around Jonin level and now special jonin level chakra control. Her speed is sannin, taijutsu is special jonin, jutsu is jonin and genjutsu is genin at best. She has control of up to 5 of the Shichibi's tails. Her suppressors put her at mid-genin for now. I plan on leaving her with Yamato under the Shadow Ops division to continue her training, and while here she will be staying with Naruto."

A blush passed both Naruto and Fuu's faces though neither showed any signs of embarrassment.

"Naruto has a wind affinity, but has pretty much completely mastered it. Even Asuma can't touch him when it comes to wind jutsu anymore. He has massive chakra coils, far above Kage level but only chunin level chakra control, a little better when he concentrates. His speed is kage level, taijutsu jonin, jutsu jonin, but non-existent genjutsu. He has control of up to 6 of the Kyubi's tails. His suppressors put him at mid-genin as well."

The Hokage's pipe almost dropped from his mouth at the assessments, especially when it came to Naruto. In 5 months, Naruto had become one of the strongest shinobi in the village! Something didn't fit right with all of this.

"How is that possible? There hasn't been enough time for such training!"

Before Jiraiya could go into his bragging mode, Itachi cleared his throat, much to the old man's chagrin. Naruto and Fuu smirked and Yamato chuckled silently. "Allow me to explain Hokage-sama."

The training Naruto and Fuu were supposed to undergo from the Hokage's knowledge was completed in one month. The second month was spent mastering certain aspects in their training and during, Itachi accidentally discovered a very peculiar training regimen. At first it was merely a bad timed jutsu, but it led to what could be the most effective training in ninja history.

"Near the end of the second month of training, Jiraiya-sama thought it wise to see how much tolerance Naruto and Fuu had against my tsukiyomi. I was against the idea at first due to neither of them being proficient with genjutsu, but they both had already shown an extremely high aptitude for dispelling it. Jiraiya-sama's intentions were to see if they could use their bijuu's chakra to dispel the tsukiyomi."

"That sounds like a very dangerous idea Jiraiya, but seeing as they are both here without any noticeable injuries I assume this went well?" Sarutobi inquired.

"Better than anticipated. I used tsukiyomi on them both at the same time to alleviate some of the power behind the jutsu, but as soon as the genjutsu was activated and their host gave them chakra to dispel it, all three of us were trapped inside of my tsukiyomi world. Or better yet, THEIR tsukiyomi world."

The Hokage's eyes widened at this revelation but he said nothing, awaiting the continuation of the explanation.

"With my tsukiyomi, one second can become 72 hours of augmented torture. However, once their demonic chakras effected my tsukiyomi we became stuck in the tsukiyomi world for 5 years, and only 2 hours in the real world. However, unlike my tsukiyomi, the rules of this tsukiyomi apparently had lasting results in the real world as you can tell by the height change. It's not as significant as 5 years in the real world, but its still an intriguing side effect. Within an hour of being trapped in tsukiyomi, I decided to train them. Once we were free, we waited an entire day before attempting to bring Jiraiya-sama and Yamato-san into the world with great success. From then on we trained almost every week in tsukiyomi for a collective time of 125 years of training. The only reason neither of them are completely kage level is because the training doesn't give them 100 percent of the physical effectiveness that it would in the real world."

This time the Hokage's pipe DID fall from his mouth. Something such as that had to be impossible, yet the results that stood before him were impossible in its self. This was all the proof he needed. Maybe, just maybe, he would be able to sleep easy tonight. With the three that he chose to train Naruto, he expected him to come back at about chunin level, maybe even special jonin at best. But to hear that he was almost kage level was far above his wildest dreams. Yes, the village of Konoha would surely be experiencing a change very soon. Only now was it truly impossible to stop.

"Thank you, all of you. Yamato, Fuu, Itachi, you are all dismissed. I will have Fuu's legalization papers ready within a few days. As for now, please get her acquainted with the Shadow-ops force. It was very good to hear from you after so long Itachi. I hope we can meet again."

"Yes Hokage-sama." All three chorused before shunshining from the room.

"How are you able to suppress your power to such a degree Naruto, if your chakra control is only chunin?" Sarutobi asked.

"The suppression seals ero-sennin mentioned. I can't go full power and can only use two tails of Kurama's power until the chunin exams, under ero-sennin's orders." Naruto answered, getting a questioning gaze from the old man. "Kyubi. His name is Kurama."

With that little fun fact, Sarutobi had new questions. Even he didn't know the bijuu had actual names. "Tell me, Naruto. Is Kurama cooperating?"

"Yeah. After 25 years he told me about everything. The sage of the six paths, the separation of the Jubi etc. The bijuu aren't evil, just extremely misunderstood, especially by humans. Just because they are different we treat them like monsters. They have power beyond our comprehension and that scares people. We made them what they are, just like this village has made me what I am. But I guess that means I should thank them." Naruto's devious grin reminded Sarutobi of the prankster he had been before he left the village. It was nice, because the last time he had seen Naruto all joy had been severed from his life.

Sarutobi nodded, processing the information quickly to get through several subjects at once. He would ask Naruto what all he knew about the Sage of Six paths and the Jubi at a later date. For now, he needed to get the present situation under control.

"What is the situation in Takigakure?"

"Doesn't exist." Jiraiya and Naruto replied at the same time, both seeming emotionless.

"Excuse me?"

"There was an incident where Fuu had gotten separated from us. She was attacked by an entire squadron of high ranked Taki shinobi. Forgive me sensei, but I couldn't stop her and Naruto after she was injured."

The Third sighed but understood the situation. They were still, technically, children after all so he was sure their emotions had gotten control of them. But to think that two thirteen year old children leveled an entire village to the ground was frightening in of itself.

Naruto was worried that the Hokage thought poorly of him and Fuu because of the situation but was reassured that they weren't entirely in the wrong. With Jiraiya taking them directly into hiding afterward, and with no surviving witnesses, Fuu and Naruto's status and whereabouts were still expertly hidden.

"Alright, now that everything is in order, Naruto you will be attending the last month of the academy. I will re-enroll you myself if need be, but this last month is mandatory for you to become a legal shinobi, regardless of your abilities."

"Jiji, my status as a jinchuriki should be enough for me to be made a ninja. Keeping me a civilian is a huge hindrance to the military force of our village. I can be a great asset, and as a jinchuriki I fall directly under your jurisdiction, even as a civilian in the academy. Even the clan heads have no say in my future when status is taken into account. That is, if you say so."

Naruto was calling out Sarutobi. He knew everything it took to run a village now. His statements reminded him of Iruka not even an hours before. Naruto knew if the Hokage decided to force his will over the village, it could very well lead to a civil war or mutiny. But the question was if that was a problem or not at this point. The Hokage had given away much power, but under his rule, Konoha was not a democratic village. It was ruled under dictatorship, being the Hokage had complete and final say in all matters. In this sense, the council was just a show to appease those involved. It honestly made The Third proud. Naruto was ready. His plan would be set in motion from that moment forward.

"Congratulations Naruto. You are ready."

Naruto rose an eyebrow. "Ready for what?"

Naruto's answer was a devious smirk that sent a pleasurable chill down his spine. Something very good was about to happen...

* * *

><p>Once dismissed, Naruto went straight home and did absolutely nothing for the first time in over 100 years. He understood that there was little time for their meeting but he expected the Hokage to want more detail than he had received from the small group. They had left thousands of holes in their story, though all that was shared was true, it wasn't even the tip of the iceberg of what Naruto and Fuu went through during their training. He heard Fuu enter some time before 11 o'clock and ten minutes later, after flopping into bed with him she was out cold as well. He smiled as he looked at the peacefully sleeping girl. They had met only 5 months ago but had spent over a life time together. He would give the world for her as he knew she would do for him. And starting the next day, they would show the world just what it meant to be shunned jinchuriki.<p>

The next day came sooner than he hoped. He woke up to find that Fuu was once again gone, wondering just what type of training Yamato was putting her through now that had her coming home late and getting up early. He knew the man was a slave driver, but had always had their best interest in mind. Even more, his training was always effective. Ironically, it usually came down to Itachi telling Yamato to lessen the amount of work they received a day. Easily shaking away the grogginess that came with awakening early, Naruto performed his daily routine of create clones for a long day of training...until he remembered that he was back in Konoha. He scratched the back of his head sheepishly when the clones all gave him questioning gazes.

"Heh, I guess you all can just clean up and relax too. Get some studying done since I've already wasted the chakra to create you."

"Right boss!" They all yelled before slowly going about doing whatever they wanted.

After washing and eating a quick breakfast, Naruto headed outside, noticing the still darkened sky and lack of daytime traffic. He was used to getting up before sunrise, and it would probably take some time to break. Jiraiya had told him and Fuu that whenever you can sleep peacefully, you're already dead. On the field, a peaceful sleep never happened until the mission was complete and you were safely out of enemy territory. But even then, you would always be on guard.

"Well I've got a few hours before class starts. Let's see what's changed in 5 months."

* * *

><p>Over the past 5 months, Hinata Hyuga had changed. To be specific, she seemed almost like an entirely different person, yet the same at the same time. To be able to understand such a thing, one would have to have watched the type of progression the pre-teen had made within the last 5 months first hand, and maybe even talked to her about the subtle changes that were hidden. For the most obvious of changes, her hair was now a bit longer, reaching the bottom of her neck, in which she was able to some times use chopsticks to put it into a slightly spiky ponytail.<p>

She hadn't grown any taller, noticeably, but one would think so since she no longer slouched. She walked with her head held high and always had a warm, confident smile on her face. She no longer wore her overly large winter jacket, showing her slightly more mature figure with a black sleeveless shirt, a short sleeved fish net shirt beneath it, and black ninja pants.

Now the subtle changes that one couldn't know just by looking started first with her personality. She was still a shy girl, especially when it came to Naruto, but she no longer stuttered or became flustered at his mention. She no longer held back in spars, though she would lose on purpose most of the time to elevate other people's confidence; Giving them the feeling of a good match and overcoming a stronger opponent. In her home, she held no tolerance for disrespect from the side branch, but also no mistreatment of them from the main branch. She enforced rules on both sides, making sure that there was peace within the clan and was already to be instated as clan head as soon as she became a genin.

Finally, her confidence had changed the most, going from almost none to the most out of everyone in her class. Even Sasuke couldn't touch the girl in that aspect, and if she had been as vocal as some of the others in the class, one would think she had the legendary ego of the Hyuga that she had lacked for most of her life. But the truth was, she was confident that when she met Naruto again, he would notice her. Just like the rest of the class, they wanted to prove something to him. Whether it was good or bad, they all held a mutual bond in the fact that they were getting stronger for Naruto's return.

"Onee-sama, how did you get up there?" A voice called far below Hinata. She looked down to see her younger sister, Hanabi, looking up at her in awe. Hinata sat atop a large wooden pole that stood over 100 feet in the air, relaxing while watching clouds drift by. She usually did this to see how close she could get to the sky in hopes of reaching one of the clouds someday. Maybe even to drift away and find a way to be with Naruto. But mostly it was merely a way to calm herself before the day at the academy would start.

"I walked!" Hinata called back, knowing her sister would be confused from such an answer.

"You walked? But that's impossible! Don't be mean nee-sama!" Hanabi whined.

It had taken a little over a month for Hanabi to stop treating Hinata like dirt. They had been constantly pit against each other by the elders and in most aspects, Hinata could have easily trumped Hanabi, though she usually let her win out of pity or love. But when it had come down to hand to hand combat, Hanabi was stronger due to being more ruthless. However, once Hinata became serious about her career as a kunoichi, she swept past her younger sister in an astounding blaze. The last time they were made to spar, Hinata subdued Hanabi in two seconds flat, leaving not only her sister literally floored, but the elders as well. She realized that holding back against her little sister was only making her weaker and when she became a ninja, the enemy would not hold back. She swore to never hold back, even against family, even if just to teach them the harsh world that comes with being a shinobi. This in turn made her respect for her father grow, knowing that somewhere along the line, he had only wanted to show Hinata tough love, just as she did with her sister now.

"I'm not, little Hana!" Hanabi blushed at her sisters nick name for her. Little flower. It was more 'pretty' than 'fireworks' which she was named after. She didn't mind either one, only allowing Hinata to call her flower though. The name was a higher form of endearment between the two, one that Hanabi learned to cherish. "I used chakra on the bottom of my feet to stick to the pole and then I walked up!"

Hanabi didn't seem satisfied with the answer but her eyes would soon widen as Hinata stood and began to walk down the vertical pole, her body perfectly horizontal of the ground far below. Hanabi's eyes lit up just like her name, and she jumped up and down in an excitement only one of her age would show at such a technique.

"Nee-sama, that's awesome! Can you teach me how to do that?" Hanabi's enthusiasm at learning new things wasn't new, it was just always well hidden. Having to be stoic in front of the elders and her father taught her that quite well.

"Not now, little Hana, but when I come home from class I will, kay?"

"Promise?" The younger asked with a cute pout, gaining a giggle from her elder sister. Hinata winked at Hanabi.

"Promise." Hugging her little sister before preparing to go about the rest of the day, a warm breeze passed over Hinata. She looked up, her eyes glistening in confusion. Something felt odd about today...like something either very good or very bad was going to happen...maybe even both.

* * *

><p>The young academy teacher went about his own daily routines with the slightly lack luster motions that he had acquired almost five months prior. Though he did feel enthusiastic about his students growth, Naruto's whereabouts constantly ate at the back of his mind. He couldn't help but wonder if the young jinchuriki was alright, if he were hungry, in trouble, or anything. Naruto was like a little brother to him, so it was only natural that he worry about him a bit.<p>

He yawned as he slowly approached the academy entrance. It was still a bit before dawn, but he always got up early to prepare for the days classes. He opened the door and headed directly to his own class, the empty halls radiating a sadness that had fallen in the absence of the blonde. Once he entered his class, he immediately knew he wasn't alone. He dropped his material and drew a kunai, taking a defensive stance and scanning the rows of chairs and desks.

"Dammit, I hate these chakra seals! I wanted to surprise you Iruka-sensei!" A deeper, yet familiar voice echoed in the darkness of the room. Iruka's heart skipped a beat and he nearly shunshined over to the blonde sitting at the very back of the classroom.

Before Naruto could register what was happening, he found himself picked up and embraced in a bone crushing hug. Naruto himself was surprised at his old sensei's speed and strength. It felt like it far surpassed that of a normal chunin. Naruto would ask about it later, but for now he would enjoy seeing one of the only people who truly cared for him in the village.

"Naruto! Is this really you? Wow you've gotten tall! And your voice is deeper too! Where have you been? What did you do? Are you alright?"

"Geez, calm down Iruka-sensei!" Naruto chuckled as the young teacher began checking him for injuries, even after noticing that Naruto was much taller than before, only being five inches shorter than him. "Glad to see you're still in high spirits!"

Iruka flopped into the seat next to Naruto, suddenly growing weary. It had been the longest five months of his life without the exuberant shinobi there with him. Now that he was back, it was so unbelievable that he could do nothing but chuckle to himself. "Naruto...you don't know how different things are now. So much has changed since you've left."

"How so? As far as what I've seen, there isn't much different, albeit I've only been home, to the see the Hokage, and here." Naruto tried to think of what all could be different in his pseudo 100 year plus absence. He remembered Sakura, Sasuke, and all his friends. Seeing that it had only been five months, he wondered how much could have truly changed in such a short time. He was honestly surprised when Iruka began explaining and told him that his classmates had all become more serious about their lives as shinobi in his absence. What surprised him even more was the amount of people not only in his class, but around the village that claimed to miss him as well.

"A lot of people used to get annoyed by your pranks. But since they've stopped, people have gotten bored and now they see how much you actually brightened their days." Iruka wouldn't admit that he was one of them though.

"Oh man, I haven't done a prank in ye...months." Naruto sighed happily remembering the old pranks he used to do and hoped his near slip went unnoticed by Iruka. Iruka was about to ask him about the slip until another presence made itself known. The door to the room slid open and the two looked down at shining silvery eyes.

"N-Naruto-kun..."

Just as Iruka had done, this second person soared over the desk to the back and hugged Naruto with all its might. This time, the touch was delicate and light. Naruto could feel every inch of the person hugging him and could feel her trembling shoulders. She clinched his shirt as if he would fade away if she let him go.

Of course the person was Hinata Hyuga. Just like every day for over two months now, Hinata was making her way to the academy building early to help out Iruka since the man had seemed to lose his enthusiasm lately. She usually awoke two hours before the academy was open to students to train alone or with Hanabi for an hour, and then helped Iruka for the next hour. Though she had expected something different to happen today, to see the boy she had been dreaming of for so long was nothing short of astonishing.

On Naruto's part, he could only look down confused at the affection he was receiving from the younger girl and display his confusion by looking to Iruka. Iruka's answer was a knowing smile and a shrug, indicating that he couldn't help him in this situation. Naruto sighed and shook his head, mouthing that his no good sensei was still no help at all, getting a silent laugh from the teacher.

"Hi...Hinata, it's good to see you...but, uh...what are you doing?"

Hinata slowly leaned up from Naruto's chest with a bright smile and tinted cheeks. "I'm sorry Naruto-kun, but I'm really happy to see you. I hope I didn't offend you." She began to move away but Naruto wrapped an arm around her, setting his palm in the small of her back. Hinata squeaked and blushed deeper. Naruto's cerulean eyes locked into her silvery ones, a knowing smirk finding its way onto his own face.

'How did I not see that she had a crush on me this whole time?' He wondered. It took years of teaching from everyone of his sensei's and even the Kyubi itself for the jinchuriki to learn about the clues that girls showed when they had a crush or were in love with someone. It took three months for him to figure it out about Fuu. "I'm not offended. I'm really honored that the Hyuga princess and someone as nice and pretty as you would miss me so much. Thank you Hinata-chan." Naruto pulled her into his own hug, taking the girl by surprise. Slowly, her arms snaked their way over his shoulders and pulled him closer as she straddled his hips on the small seat. Iruka scratched his cheek at the compromising position the two were in.

"Ehem...class is going to start soon. Hinata, shouldn't we get started setting up?" He tried to get their attention but the two didn't respond. Iruka smiled and shook his head, before getting up to set up himself. "I guess I'll leave you two be."

It was only after a few more minutes of being embraced that Hinata realized the position she was in. With a blush that would put the old Hinata to shame, she moved from Naruto, almost falling backwards over the elevated desk but caught herself with an expert flip. Naruto clapped at the girls display of physical fitness and coordination and the normally shy girl bowed to the applause. Naruto could see that she had changed and he was liking the new her already. He didn't have anything against the old her, but he didn't really know the old her either. They both had changed and right now was like two different people meeting for the first time.

They both made their way to the front of the class and began to help Iruka setup, the three all enjoying each others company and laughing all the while. It had been so long since Iruka and Hinata had laughed so much, and about so little. Their conversations were all on how much taller Naruto was, Hinata's new hairstyle, Iruka's zombie like trepidation, and his overall lack of order since Naruto had been gone. The young teacher blushed sheepishly as Hinata told the story of how Iruka had almost killed his students the week after Narutoj had left by having them all line up while he practiced his own kunai throwing abilities, all while moaning about how Naruto would have done it.

The short hour went by almost instantaneously as the three conversed. They sat around Iruka's desk, talking about some of the misadventures Naruto had had while out training in his five month absence when the first student arrived. All eyes fell on the student whom had frozen upon seeing the ghost of a blonde haired kid he had known a few months ago.

"Got dammit, you're back already." Kiba called as he yawned and slowly moved to his seat. Hinata and Iruka frowned but Naruto just chuckled.

"Let me guess. Aunt Tsume is pissed at you isn't she?" Naruto joked. Kiba glared at him but with a smirk none the less.

"When isn't she?" The two laughed a little before Kiba held up his fist, the thumb extended sideways. Naruto returned the gesture, one of the symbols of their friendship that symbolized 'force or nothing'. "You came back too soon, bro. I'm not where I want to be yet."

"Just because I'm back doesn't mean your training needs to stop. I'm going to work my ass off, and if you don't you'll get left behind."

Kiba scoffed. "What makes you think I haven't already left you behind?"

"I don't know. Why don't we find out later?" Naruto and Kiba's eyes met in a brotherly rivalry that had not subsided over the few months. If anything, it had grown.

"NARUTO!" Several other students of no importance shouted the blondes name as they all congregated around him. The class began to fill with some people giving awed looks at the returned blonde, strange glares, and some even confident smirks. Everyone for one reason or another acknowledged his return.

His old friends, Shino, Chouji, and Shikamaru all welcomed him back, all giving the same symbol of 'force or nothing' to him before they made their way to their seats. Naruto, Hinata and Iruka still stood at the front of the class as the last of the students were making their way in. Sasuke came in, almost not noticing the blonde jinchuriki.

"Hey Sasuke." Naruto called, a devious knowing smirk on his face.

"Hey Naruto." Sasuke spoke with his head down, seeming to be in deep thought. He continued walking to his seat and was about to sit down when realization washed over him. His head slowly turned to the person whom had spoken to him while he entered the class. The class burst into laughter at the scene and Sasuke face planted into the ground. "I hate you." He mumbled as he stood back up, a half grin on his face. Once again, the symbol of 'force or nothing' was displayed to the class.

Iruka was just about ready to address the class until the door burst open and two kunoichi fell into the room. The class grew silent as one blonde haired, purple dressed kunoichi, and pink haired, pink dressed kunoichi sheepishly rose from the ground.

"Eheh, sorry we're late Iruka-sensei, we were still doing our daily run when-" Ino paused in mid speech as her eyes laid upon Naruto. Sakura's eyes widened and both younger girls just stared at him.

"Uh...hi?" He offered.

"NARUTO!" They called, running towards him. Ino jumped right on top of him while Sakura just smiled down at the collapsed forms.

"What the hell happened to you?" Ino called, quickly getting up. She didn't quite understand her own excitement of seeing him, just that she was happy to see him for some reason. Her only thought was that she couldn't deny that she was worried about him just like the others, and somewhere deep inside, she had actually missed him.

Sakura wanted to do the same as Ino, having realized that Naruto's doting of her was extremely missed. She had always thought of it as annoying but after a while she realized that Naruto was one of the only people who ever complimented her and gave her confidence. When he left, she had no one until she made an effort to start training.

"Well as you all can see, Naruto has returned." Iruka called, earning a round of applause from most of the class. Iruka smiled, proud at the growth of his students. "I understand that you're all excited to see him, but we still need to keep on track. Just because he's back doesn't mean you all can slack off either. We only have a month left before you find out which of you will become official shinobi and kunoichi and who will not."

The class settled down and everyone moved to their assigned seats, Naruto taking a seat next Hinata with Ino sitting to the his side as well. He noticed that Sakura sat with Kiba and Shino while Chouji and Shikamaru were next to Sasuke. He didn't know how the relationships had changed, or by how much, but so far he was happy with what he saw, Iruka was right in that things really had changed.

"Since the council still won't let us take you all out on a guided mission, we'll just go out and play for a while." Iruka's smirk replayed on the many faces of the students. Naruto rose an eyebrow.

"You're going to enjoy this Naruto." Ino whispered from next to him. The class began to rise from their seats and file out of the room. A few of them jumped out of the windows and they headed to the training grounds of the academy. Once the entire class was behind the building and standing in front of Iruka, Naruto's anxiety began to rise. He could sense something coming from them all. It was almost like his own anxiety, but more excitement than anything.

"You all have one hour to retrieve one of the targets." Iruka was saying until Hinata rose her hand. "Yes, what do you need Hinata?"

"Ano, sensei, Naruto-kun doesn't know what the targets are."

"That's right! Naruto, this is a search and retrieval mission. You are to acquire one or more of the items I'm about to list. An orange book from Hatake Kakashi. A pack of cigarettes from Sarutobi Asuma. Or a stick of dango from Mitarashi Anko."

The would be genin shivered at that last one. Only one person had achieved that one, being Shikamaru, and he was scarred enough to never try it again. Naruto looked around at his classmates. He could see those who either succeeded or not, just from the looks on their faces. Hinata had her natural, warm smile on, Shikamaru was scowling, Kiba had a confident grin, and Chouji was sulking. The rest of them seemed relaxed. Naruto smiled too and shook his head. Just from the feelings he was getting from the others, he knew this would be a fun and unique experience.

"Are you all ready?" Iruka called, effectively reaching a peak in the tension. "BEGIN!"

The class vanished from Iruka's sight.

Over the fence, a kick and twirl, on the roofs, the sides of buildings, through the trees, the newest and upcoming generation of ninja soared, not breaking a single step as they all but glided through the village. This one moment, where nothing mattered but the feeling of running, of jumping, of almost flying, kept their personal emotions locked firmly inside of them as they were only set on moving forward to their objective.

Naruto had gone farthest, his initial kick from the fence launching over several buildings, earning amazed looks from his classmates. The feel of the wind as it beat across his body and through his hair was surreal. The others saw a golden flash and then as if in slow motion, Naruto's form glistened in the sun like a burning angel. And just like that, they were gone.

Naruto's feet touched the shingles of a rooftop for only a moment before he kicked off again, going straight forward. He cut through the wind as if their was no resistance. As he touched down on the next rooftop, he kicked off with his right foot, spinning in a barrel roll as switched sides of the street, landing just as gracefully on a flat rooftop of a store before running towards an elevated wall. Not missing a beat, he leaped and ran up the side of the wall, kicking off higher into the air as he reached the top.

"Naruto-kun!"

The sweet melodic voice of Hinata caught his attention as he was at the peak of his jump and looked back to see the princess soaring upwards towards him with her hand outstretched. Quickly grabbing it, he spun once and slung her forward, sending the girl into a fast dash to the next rooftop before he himself back flipped in the air and landed for only a split second before he kicked off with a force that shook the building and he caught up with her.

The smile on the Hyuga heiress' face was nothing short of amazing. It was the brightest he had ever seen her smile and the wind blazing around them as if it were attempting to knock them out of the sky made the scene one to remember. The feeling was not lost even as their aerial dash declined to put them on an open road in the middle of town. They continued to run, dashing in and out of people as they moved through the streets, never once bumping anyone.

"Naruto!" Kiba's voice rung out and from a nearby rooftop dropped the Inuzuka. The only words spoken were those of his friends name before all three only continued their mad dash through town. Coming to the canal that ran through the village and a bridge, Naruto smiled deviously. With a sharp turn, he hopped the fence, down towards the water and began to run on its surface. To his surprise and delight, Kiba and Hinata were right behind him.

"Turn it up Naruto!" Kiba yelled.

"With pleasure!"

In a burst of speed that would make Lee cry for joy, Naruto vanished once more, splitting the water in front of Hinata and Kiba. For their part, through surprised at the speed, they both easily dealt with the now half pipe like water. Hinata activated her byakugan and jumped on one wall of water, running up it until she reached the apex and used a burst of chakra to send herself out of the canal, so high that she grabbed a tree branch on her way down and used the momentum to sling herself forward, where she saw Naruto pacing himself again. Kiba let Akamaru jump out of his jacket and they both began to spin.

"Gatsuuga!" He cried and the two whirlwind like drills tore apart the walls of water as they moved through the canal, picking up speed until the drills looked like one. They spun upwards into the air and stopped, giving Kiba a birds eye view of the village.

"Show off!" Naruto yelled.

Kiba only smiled before spinning again, making a fast drilling spiral aimed straight at Naruto.

"Geez Naruto, you're first day back and you've got Kiba riled up already?"

"Sorry Shikamaru, I've got a way with getting under people's skin!"

At his comment Naruto burst away, Kiba stopping his spin as he landed right where he had just been and then dashing off after him. The newly arrived Shikamaru sighed but smiled anyway before making his shadow shrink. It formed beneath his feet, though no one would notice except for Hinata. He moved forward, but instead of running like Naruto and Kiba, he seemed to be gliding over the ground, almost as if skating. Hinata, not one to be outdone ran up the building they were next to and took the high road.

Naruto and Kiba were once again running on the open road, right next to the canal as they spanned the village. Shikamaru soared over a pile of crates and slid down a cart as he caught up, skating right next to Naruto. Hinata's shadow appeared from the shade, showing that she was right with them to their right.

"They're not the only one's who've gotten faster Naruto!" The newest arrival of Ino made Naruto's eyes widen. The girl was running on the railing next to them and between them and the canal. She was sweating, looking to be putting her all into it, but her speed increase was undeniable.

"She's been training with us. Her progress is far more than substantial." Shino didn't seem tired at all as he ran up next to Kiba.

"And why are you all following me again?" Naruto asked, having more fun than he had even expected to.

"Who said we were following you?" Ino asked before flipping from the railing and throwing several kunai at Naruto. Naruto kicked off the ground, propelling himself into a front flip. The movement only proved to slow him for a bit and he landed, still in a full sprint. Ino was a bit ahead of him now, sticking her tongue out at him. "This is a competition Naruto, get with it!"

Her words seemed to spark something in them all as they began to pick up the pace. Now turning away from the canal and heading back towards the main part of the village, they began to run by the lake where Naruto used to see Sasuke sitting alone. The left trail to the Hokage monument was just along the other side of the lake and a bit further in the direction they were headed was the clan district.

"Take your own advice Ino." Hinata said before she leaped from the last building that was in that part of the village she soared over the small group towards Ino, her arm cocked back with her palm open. Ino yelped and skipped to the left as Hinata smashed the ground where she had just been. Naruto, Kiba, Shino, and Shikamaru dashed past them at this point and Hinata began to follow, leaving Ino in the dust.

"No fair!" As the small group began to leave Ino's sight, she turned to the sky. A bit ahead, she saw a bird flying in the same direction. "Now's as good a time as any." She put her hands in the symbol that indicated the mind transfer jutsu. However, her pinky fingers were down, as if making a heart shape within the diamond. "Change!" She called, and in a flash, her soul left her body, headed towards the bird. As soon as she entered, another flash occurred and in place of the bird was Ino herself. An advanced version of the substitution jutsu that only the Yamanaka could use. "Here I come!"

Now reaching the northern main street of the village, the group didn't have time to look up to see Ino as she landed right on Kiba's back, almost tripping the boy. He stumbled a bit but kept his balance. "The hell? Ino, where the hell did you come fr-"

He didn't finish as Ino pushed his hood down over his head and flipped off of him, running forward towards the group. With Kiba in the back, Ino catching up, Shikamaru and Shino behind him, and Hinata now beside him, Naruto knew they had to get out of the streets.

"The first objective is coming up Naruto-kun!" Hinata called. Naruto nodded as he saw a man with a long beard and a cigarette in his mouth. He was tucking the pack into the pocket on his Jonin vest. A woman with red eyes and wearing what appeared to be a dress made of nothing but cloth wraps was with him.

"Leave it to me." Without batting an eye, Naruto vanished and a whirlwind surrounded the two Jonin. Soon afterward a shadow crept past Hinata and attached itself to the two Jonin's. Then a buzzing sound was heard and a small cluster of bugs soared past Hinata. The whirlwind stopped to show Naruto standing next to them, drawing their attention as the small cluster of bugs lifted the pack of cigarettes from Asuma's jacket.

"H-Hey! Not again!" He yelled and moved to reach for the pack only to find he could not move due to Shikamaru's shadow possession.

Naruto jumped up towards the pack of cigarettes, but a vine snatched from the midst of the bugs before he could reach it. His gaze followed the weapon to the hand of Ino, holding a vine whip. Just before she caught the pack herself, a white blur soared by and snatched it before bounding back towards Kiba. Kiba caught Akamaru and saluted the group before taking to the rooftops of the shopping district and heading back towards the academy.

"Dammit, Kiba always gets the cigarettes!" Ino yelled

"Ino, Hinata, stop this right now!" Kurenai was starting to move, her and Asuma having very little difficulty breaking out of Shikamaru's shadow possession by now.

"Any day now Hinata!" Shikamaru called. Hinata nodded and moved in swiftly, striking several places on both adults legs, and dropping them to their knees, making it so they were unable to move.

"Got damn this! Wait until I get my hands on Iruka! I'll strangle him!" Kurenai shouted, but Asuma just seemed to be watching the group before they all sped off in search of the next target.

"Kurenai, calm down." Asuma said.

"But-"

Asuma shook his head. "They took us down in less than ten seconds this time. We didn't even see them coming. They're improving."

Kurenai's eyes widened as she realized he was right. They had been so engrossed in wondering who their genin teams would be that they weren't paying attention to the exact same students they were discussing. They were taken by surprise, especially at the sight of Naruto being back in the village. They had no time to think as they were captured and handle with expert precision. Though they were under orders not to use force against the would be genin, this time they hadn't even gotten the chance to prepare.

"This is going to be an interesting month Kurenai." Asuma said, smoking his last and only cigarette. A silence grew between them.

"...we're going to be stuck in the middle of the street for a while aren't we?"

"Yep. Get comfortable."

* * *

><p>"Where are we headed to next?" Naruto asked as he and Hinata ran on top of the shop districts buildings. They were nearing the eastern path to the Hokage monument top, the clan districts, the road to the stadium, and the forest of death.<p>

"If you want to go for Anko, she's in the forest of death, but you are only allowed in their with two chunin escort during this training session." Shikamaru answered from behind him. Ino and Shino were pacing themselves next to him.

"And that's why some rules are meant to be broken!" Naruto replied before he leaped to the left, entering the dense forest that would soon connect to the first of death. Hinata gasped and went in after him.

"Yep, same old Naruto. Let's go save the idiot." Shikamaru sighed and dashed behind Hinata, followed shortly by Shino and Ino.

As the forest grew thicker, Naruto could see the makings of a fence coming up. The others watched as he leaped right over the tall gate, as if it weren't there and covered in warning signs. Hinata followed just as quickly, the others stopping only for a bit.

"We can't leave them in there alone." Shino reasoned. The other two agreed, but hesitated just a bit longer before they decided to go in after them.

"I can see her ahead Naruto-kun. It's like she knows we're coming." Hinata warned him but Naruto paid it no attention. He vanished forward again and landed in the clearing with the woman. Anko stood with one hand holding a plate of dango and the other a kunai.

"Oh? The blonde gaki's back in the village. You've gotten taller." Though genuinely surprised to see the blonde back in the village, Anko was well aware of Iruka's training methods. The few times the academy brats had tried to take her dango, she had been learning more and more about their patterns. She figured today would be a day of fun and feeling the group of brats headed her way proved that notion right. But seeing the pariah of the village with them had just made things more interesting.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Anko-chan, but my adrenaline is running sky high and I don't want to lose it. If you want to hand over the dango, do so now, or I'll be forced to take it myself, and I can't promise to be gentle."

Anko rose an eyebrow but her evil smirk only grew. "Ohoho? Now this should really be fun. Alright then gaki, you want the dango, come and get it. I can't promise to be gentle either though." She licked the tip of the kunai provocatively, earning a small blush from Naruto, a red flush from Hinata, and the newly arrived Ino, Shikamari, and Shino paled.

"Don't blink." With Naruto's words, the next thing Anko felt was a powerful back draft from the area he had just been. She soon realized that the blonde wasn't just bluffing. If her reflexes had been any slower, she would have taken the hay maker that almost tore her jaw from the rest of her face. Luckily she moved three feet back just before it connected. Forming one hand sign just as the blonde touched the ground and vanished again, a small snake appeared and she dropped the plate of dango on it.

"Get that out of here, now!" Anko yelled and the snake took off into the forest with a speed that betrayed its small stature.

"Hinata! Take the rest of them and go get that food!" Naruto ordered. Hinata was startled, not knowing what was going on since it was happening so fast. "NOW!"

"Ri-right!" Hinata stuttered out before heading into the forest after the snake. Shikamaru dropped down and skated after her with Shino and Ino following. "Be careful Naruto-kun!"

"That's a bold move gaki! You better be able to keep that bravado up." Anko said before drawing another kunai.

"I just hope you can keep up Anko-chan."

Just like before, Naruto vanished, causing a powerful wind to kick up around the area. A whirlwind began to form around Anko. The Special Jonin grit her teeth and narrowed her eyes, wondering where he was going to attack from.

'What type of jutsu is this?' She wondered.

"Pay attention Anko-chan!" Naruto's voice alerted her of the imminent danger and she barely had time to dodge roll to her left as three kunai soared from the swirling vortex at her. The kunai embedded in a tree opposite her with three clean thuds. Anko rose quickly and threw her own kunai into the vortex, a bit ahead of where the kunai Naruto had thrown came from. Naruto appeared from the vortex, the kunai between his teeth. The wind slowly subsided. "Intuition or just luck?" Naruto asked as he spit the weapon out.

"I would ask you the same thing, but I take it you aren't just your average academy student. Hell, I'm willing to put money down to bet you're stronger than a genin and maybe even chunin."

"You'd be a rich woman then." Naruto unraveled a scroll and smeared a bit of blood on it. In a small 'poof', the scroll was gone and in Naruto's hands was a large black scythe.

"Not a very ninja like weapon gaki. You any good with it?" Anko's eyes set hard on Naruto and the weapon. Her fist were clinched which didn't go missed by Naruto.

"Pretty damn good if I do say so myself." Naruto turned and brought the large weapon in an upwards arch, cutting the snake that was sneaking up behind him in half. Anko cursed but didn't let the moment pass. She dashed at Naruto with a speed far greater than all of his friends. She was behind him just as the last of the snake was cleaved. She aimed to slam the blunt end of her kunai into Naruto's neck but soon stopped as she saw their new position. "Almost Anko-chan. And by the way, my name's Naruto."

Naruto never stopped his scythe swing and held the weapon over his shoulder, the blade a mere inch from Anko's collar bone. As well, in his opposite hand was a kunai pointed backwards, so that if Anko wished to take another step towards him, she would find having children difficult. She shivered at the weapons and the expertise in which he handled them.

"You're scary good gak...Naruto. Just how strong are you?"

"That's for me to know and you to never find out. But if you're willing to bare with me a little longer, you can get a...close up view."

Naruto's own flirtatious nature, born from years of being around Jiraiya and the Kyubi of all people, rose and proved to be quite the match for Anko's own. The small blush that crossed her face was testament to that and made her anger grow. Anko hadn't blushed from something a man had said in over four years.

"You're entering dangerous grounds Naruto. You won't be able to dig yourself out of that hole. You've already got to deal with the one you're in right now."

Anko's face showed a bit of pain before she suddenly disappeared just like Naruto did. Naruto was a bit caught off guard from the speed but turned in time to parry the kunai strike aimed at his back. Anko was using the sharp part of the weapon now, showing that she was taking Naruto completely seriously. Naruto cursed Jiraiya again. If he didn't have all those seals placed on him, he would have been the one running circles around Anko instead of the other way around now.

"What's wrong gaki? Not so fast anymore?" Anko's voice echoed around Naruto. He could sense malicious intent from her and finally understood what was happening.

'She's using an outside source, how about I do too?' Naruto's eyes flashed red for only a moment before he too vanished.

Anyone witnessing the fight would not be able to recount the tale. The only ones that would have been able to give a slightly correct depiction of the battle were nowhere near the area, being Hinata Hyuga, and Sasuke Uchiha. The forest itself would never be the same for years to come. From the first blow, with Naruto moving up behind Anko while she continued to move a speed that matched and maybe even surpassed Jonin, Naruto's strike was blocked by Anko's kunai. The force itself sent the Special Jonin hurling towards the opposite side of the clearing.

Her back hit a tree but she had no time to catch her breath as Naruto's scythe impaled where her head should have been. Anko ducked beneath the blade and pushed off the tree trunk, slamming her elbow into Naruto's midsection and then slashing with the kunai to cut him across his stomach. Naruto had already released his scythe and jumped back before she could slash, but wasn't fast enough to avoid all damage and came out with a small scratch across the naval. With his scythe now in a tree, Naruto flipped the kunai in his other hand. With a smirk, Naruto motioned for Anko to come on, his glowing red eyes scanning her neck to find the glowing symbol of the curse mark on her shoulder. It seemed that another seal was in place as well, preventing her from drawing more than what she was already drawing from it.

"The snake teme's seal seems more beneficial now than ever." Naruto spoke with a violent undertone. Jiraiya and Kyubi had told him all about Orochimaru. Naruto's disdain for the man was rivaled only by Anko and Jiraiya themselves.

"You're just full of surprises. I don't know how you know about this seal, or if you realize exactly what power you are using right now, but you know a lot more than I was informed of. I'll have to take you to the Hokage for questioning." Anko was also serious about this. Naruto was fun, but now he seemed to know things that were only for higher up ears.

"Jiji already knows about this. I don't know how much I'm allowed to tell you, but the information I have was trusted to me by the same people you want to have me questioned by. As for the Kyubi, he's just a big softy." The Kyubi growled in Naruto's mind.

"Fine, then how about we finish this now. I win, I drag you to the Hokage to find out the truth. You win, we still go see the Hokage if you're not a spy, and then I'll treat you to dinner for being wrong. Deal?"

Naruto thought about it for a second. With the Kyubi's chakra, he could match her. They were only using their speed and weapons right now anyway. Anko didn't truly believe that he was a spy. If he were, this whole thing would have been pointless, and so many other security measures would have been taken care of to subdue him far before he had made it to the Forest of Death. On the other hand, getting drug to the Hokage because Anko wanted to gloat about how she beat the Hokage's 'secret weapon' didn't sound too appealing either. Besides, who was he to turn down free food?

"Deal. Hope you have a big wallet, I don't plan on eating just a few plates of dango."

Naruto dashed forward, coming down with an overhead slash from his kunai. Anko blocked it easily and held out her opposite hand. A snake lashed out from her trench coat and sunk its fangs into Naruto's shoulder, releasing a poison at the same time. Anko smirked triumphantly, but it was only momentary as the Naruto the snake was biting on suddenly popped into a log. A log with exploding tags on it. Anko tried to retract the snake and jump away but it was a bit late. The log exploded, blowing the snake into pieces and sending Anko slamming into the same tree she had hit the first time.

For a moment she felt nothing but pain. Then realization struck her. The scythe was gone. With wide eyes, she rolled out the way as the scythe struck the ground where she had just been. She turned to see Naruto spin on the pole of his blade before flipping upwards and ripping the weapon from the ground. He kicked off of the side of the tree and soared at her, his glowing red eyes showing feral enjoyment. He extended it and held it with both hands before aiming to cleave Anko right in half. He succeeded, but did not fall for the trick. Anko's body fell into a mass of snakes and just as Naruto landed on the ground from his attack Anko was coming from above him. She attempted to impale him with her own kunai, only for Naruto to jump away. The cluster of snakes that Anko had substituted with sprang at Naruto and latched onto various parts of his body. The drawing of blood was enough to let Anko know she had gotten the real Naruto.

'Gotcha!'

With one last hand sign from Anko, the snakes began to glow before all at once exploding. Anko stood panting as she waited for the smoke to clear to show if she had won or not. When she saw a red glow within the smoke, she knew she hadn't. The smoke spun swiftly before being blown away by a powerful gale. Naruto stood with a few scratches and his clothes a bit tattered.

"Nice one." He coughed a bit, letting her know the attack had done some damage. "But not quite there though." Naruto rose his scythe and Anko grit her teeth. She couldn't do much else. The curse mark was starting to return to normal.

'Oh my Kami...' Anko thought as Naruto brought his scythe down and sent a small whirlwind at her. 'I just lost to an academy student.' Was her last thought before the gale twirled her and then slammed her against another tree, knocking her unconscious.

Naruto's red eyes faded back to blue. He dropped to a knee as well, not used to having to use the Kyubi's chakra with so many limiters on. He smiled at Anko though, seeing that she had more power than he initially gave her credit for. With the curse mark, she seemed like she could be a Jonin. She hadn't even used any other jutsu besides substitution, exploding clone, and summoning. Her kunai play was top notch too, in tandem with her snakes.

"You're going to be a big asset Anko-chan. I'm glad to have you on my side." Naruto bowed to Anko before scooping her up and heading towards the gate. He could feel Hinata and the others already waiting for him. Once he reached the exit, he saw the small group. Hinata held the plate of dango while the others sat with pensive scowls.

Ino was the first to notice his approach and she stood with an angry growl. "Naruto, if you ever make us come into this damn forest after your ass again, I'll feed you to the Inuzuka myself!"

"Who made you go anywhere? This is a competition, remember?" Naruto stuck his tongue out at Ino before hopping the fence and running off towards the village. Shikamaru and Shino watched silently while Hinata ran after him. Ino yelled and began to follow. Shikamaru and Shino stayed behind.

"You saw it too right?" Shikamaru asked. Shino nodded.

"He defeated Mitarashi-san. A special jonin."

Shikamaru stood up and dropped down to the forest floor. He began to slowly trudge back to the village. "Naruto's got a lot of tricks up his sleeves, but that may be the biggest one yet. He's holding back."

"I agree. Uzumaki-san has become a force to be reckoned with."

Pausing for only a second, Shikamaru shook his head and continued on. "Who's to say he wasn't before he left?"

* * *

><p>Naruto and Hinata continued onwards, Ino keeping pace as best she could behind them. Hinata gave worried glances to Naruto as he carried the unconscious special jonin with them towards their next and final target. She had no clue how Naruto had managed to defeat Anko, but she knew he had indeed grown far stronger than any of them could have ever imagined. They all knew that they were genin material, having crossed that threshold months ago. Some of them were even confident enough in their abilities to say they were ready for chunin. However, none even thought about special jonin. Yet there was Naruto, cradling the unconscious form of the strongest special jonin in the leaf village.<p>

"Ano...Naruto-kun..." Hinata tried to get his attention. Naruto's gaze went to hers and a small smile formed on his face.

"I know what you're wondering Hinata-chan. I only beat her through good planning, quick thinking and sheer luck. No matter who you face, if you can surprise them, you will always grab the upper hand, even if only for a split second."

Hinata blushed at Naruto's strong determination but smiled herself. "Actually, I was trying to tell you we're going the wrong way. Kakashi-sensei is at training ground 7." Hinata blushed more and held back her own laugh at Naruto's blanching face.

"...Well shit..."

After a change of course, the small group was headed to the village gates. Shikamaru and Shino had caught back up thanks to the minor detour. They remained silent, as Ino did as well as they observed how close Naruto and Hinata were as they ran through the village. If they had wanted to, they could have started holding hands and no one would really notice. Shino and Shikamaru smiled but Ino pouted slightly.

They remained in silence even after reaching the gates and darting past the guards. Iruka had already informed them of the days endeavors so they were prepared. Naruto paid close attention to the area they were entering, enjoying the serene melody of the wildlife that surrounded Konoha. It was much different than the urban areas of the village, and even more relaxing than the in town training grounds that all seemed to be surrounded by man placed forestland.

"Gaki, you know I'm going to beat the living shit out of you one day right?" Anko had awoken a bit ago and after realizing she was being carried and by who, relaxed and enjoyed the ride.

"Kinda figured. You're not the only person who wants to anyway." Naruto sweat dropped. It was an understatement. Besides everyone after his life, as far as he could tell, all of his friends wanted a piece of him, even Fuu.

"Get in line Anko-sensei, Naruto-kun's mine." Hinata teased, sticking her tongue out at Anko as they ran. Anko smiled and suddenly turned into a log, ditching her carriage and appearing right next to Hinata.

"Is that right? Looks like you've got a little fan club gaki. By the way, are we going to Kakashi?"

Hinata and Naruto nodded. Anko's smile turned absolutely murderous.

"Beautiful. Just freakin beautiful."

The evil chuckle that followed sent a chill down everyone's spine.

Standing in front of the memorial stone that sat near Training Ground 7's field, the cyclops ninja Kakashi Hatake stood lamenting on the past that had led to the person he was that day. His eyes gazed upon the stone, over the many names and memories, though they lingered on three of those many longer than any others. The names of Minato Namikaze, Obito Uchiha, and Rin Inuzuka held the most, the many, and the important memories for him. Be it from the happiest times in his life to the most tragic, those three names were always with him, in his mind and in his heart.

'Sensei...Obito...Rin...Naruto came back to the village. I haven't seen him yet, but all of the ninja are talking about it already. I didn't know what the big deal was at first, but apparently Master Jiraiya had taken the boy out of the village a few years ago. Sensei, I still don't know why you trapped the demon in some random boy, but if the demon influences him and Jiraiya trains him, what's to stop him from betraying and killing us all? I just don't understand what's happening anymore...why didn't you tell me anything? Obito, Rin...what would you have done in this situation? I haven't seen enough of him to actually say that he is evil. His pranks are funny and keeps the village lively, just like you Obito. And his temper, if I can recall correctly is just like yours Rin. I find it hard to hate him, even if he is responsible for your death Sensei...'

"Ne, scarecrow! Drag your ass back to the present so we can kick your ass!" Anko yelled as the group landed in the training field behind Kakashi.

"Anko-sensei, the whole point of this was supposed to be stealth, you do realize that right?" Ino asked with her face in her palm. Anko just shrugged, never taking her eyes off of Kakashi's back.

'Oh great...' Kakashi sighed and slowly turned around to face his would-be attackers. His one visible eye slightly widened as they set sight on the newly arrived Naruto. 'He's here! And he looks different...' For a moment the image of his own sensei, Minato, flashed into his mind but it was only for the briefest of moments.

"What's wrong Kakashi? Cat got your tongue? Where's my money bro?" Anko called, pointing an accusing finger at him. Everyone present sweat dropped.

"You only joined us to get money he owes you?" Naruto asked with a small tick mark on his head. Anko shrugged again.

"Business before pleasure right? And this is both. Kicking his ass and getting my money."

Naruto shook his head. "What does he even owe you for?"

"We bet that the ANBU would get lazy with you gone and he swore up and down that the elite shadow force of this village was not in shape from chasing one single academy student."

Naruto rose an eyebrow, interested that it was a bet on him. "And?"

Anko pulled out a picture. After a second of looking at it, Naruto crashed into the ground laughing his ass off. Hinata, Shino, Ino, and Shikamaru all crowded around to see the picture and were soon on the ground with Naruto, save Shino who only stood next to them chuckling and wiping tears from his eyes.

"What? What's on that picture?" Kakashi asked, one visible eye narrowed. Anko turned the picture around to reveal a room full of drunk, sleeping ANBU, all with profane words and graphic details of male and female genitals drawn all over their masks. To top it all off, Anko herself was in the picture with a marker and at the moment the picture was taken, she was positioning several of the male ANBU into...compromising positions.

Kakashi paled, dropped to his knees, and held back the urge to vomit.

"Ha, read that in one of those porn books you have."

"Seriously, what the hell have I missed?" Naruto asked through his chuckles as he stood back to his feet. Anko put the picture away and smiled evilly at Kakashi.

"Look, I'll get you your money after I deal with the kiddies." Kakashi was saying until he noticed the group walking away. "Hey...hey where are you going?"

Naruto looked back as he and his friends made their way back towards the academy. "You weren't paying attention and we stole your book. Bye."

Kakashi's eyes widened and looked down to his waist to see that the rectangular holster that usually held his porn was flatter than Sakura's chest. Thunder crashed in the area and dark clouds instantly filled the atmosphere. Naruto sweatdropped at the oppressive aura. The to be genin looked at each other and then at Anko. The special jonin smiled.

"Yep. Time to run."


End file.
